POPULARWOODWORKING.COM ■ 33A Hidden Lock
To me, the book-opener is what puts
the magic into a hidden door bookcase.
When I ask a client to pick a book to
use as the opening mechanism, they
will undoubtedly pick a well-known or
vintage title, or perhaps a book with
a pleasant color scheme. Whatever
book you choose, ensuring that it has
ample height clearance to fully open
hinging outward and that the page
thickness is a number that can be
divided in quarter inches will save you
some headaches later on.A book with a page thickness of 1^1 / 2 " is ideal
for use as the hidden means of opening the
door. This is because, you will be cutting out
some pages to use solid stock or make a
glue blank to fill them back with. This keeps
things disguised while creating a sturdy
place to mount your hinge and anchor your
cable out of sight below.A Using a square, make a mark across
the pages a little over half way up. With
painters tape, tape all edges of the pag-
es together along with one cover to
keep them from flying apart when cut.
Leave the other cover free for holding
while cutting. With the book next to
the blade as a depth gauge and using
your adjustable depth stop, set your
sliding miter saw to make a cut that is
shy of touching the back cover by 10
or so pages. Place a sacrificial board
of about 3" wide between the book and
fence so that you can creep up on the
line and complete the exit cut on the
backside of the book Next, lay the book
open with the cover bent towards you to
hold onto and make the first cut across
the pages. Turn the book 90° and make
your second cut about^1 / 2 " or so from
the spine. Then finish both cuts making
scoring passes with a utility knife.B-C Make a block to fill the void
(minus an inch or so in width to hide
hardware) using either solid stock or
a combination of solid stock and^1 / 4 "
plywood. Apply PVA glue liberally to
both faces and all edges except the
bottom and the outside facing edge
of the block and clamp the assembly
overnight.B C
A